Live bait container



and the oval cross-section ofthe receptacle" to the view in Fig. -1;-and

Patented July 7, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT @Fries LIVE BAIT CONTAINER i James E. Ormeshenvvalentina Nebr. lApplication November =5,` 1948, Serial No.f|58,440

v (ci. 1a-55)4 Y 7 claims.

This invention relates to new andr useful improvements in live bait containers .for fishing and more particularly to live yminnow receptacles; an important object being to provide one which may be transparent for observation of the condition of the minnows, and hermetically sealed to prolong the lives of the minnows, hellgramites or other bait..A

Another object of the invention is to provide a' container of this class havinga minnow trap or sieve adjacent the top thereof adapted to be conveniently reachedinto with the. fingers during fishing for the selection of a minnow for baiting a hook without undue ,disturbance of other minnows in. the. container or contamination of the water by contact with the hand.

A further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of a minnow sieve in a sealed water-tight container whereby the latter may be carried in a coatpocket and when bait is plastics or any other suitable material.-

upper open end or top of the containery is slightdesired, removed therefrom, simply inverted, then righted to trap, one or more minnows in such sieve forl ready baiting of the fishing hook, without danger of leakage or water or injury to the minnows. i

A still further' object of the invention is to provide a.Y simple and inexpensive minnow container, which will carry minnows for a longer period of time and more minnows fory the same` period of time forthe volume of water used; one

which can be made in various shapes and colors,

of various materials, carried ina variety ofA ways, refrigerated, and easily rinsedand cleaned. i

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following descriptionfofvwhich the accompanying drawing forms a part, 'and wherein the preferred embodiments of the inventionare illustrated and described for purposes of illustration and not for 1imitation. l f

In the accompanying drawing,-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved minnow receptacle with :the upper-portion thereof shown in section `to illustrate'the construction Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectionv of the receptacle taken along the line 2-2 at right angles Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section-of a'portion of the upper 'edge of the modified receptacle cover andtrap'illustrating the manner of vmountingl the trap orV sieve on thecoverso as to be lifted lfrom the receptacle when the cover is removed therefrom. 1 f

Referring nowl to 'the` drawing; thefnumeral .i

4 designates the body of acontainer, preferably in the form of a transparent glass jarwhich is oval in cross-section to readily t within-a lisherxnans coat pocket, or to be suspendedfrom a shermans side rif it be desired .tocarryor l' suspend the receptacle otherwise. The container is preferably lled approximately two-thirds with Water up to the level shown by the dotted line 4a, leaving approximately one-third of the container filled with air. While it is vdesirable to make the container'oval in cross-section and Itransparent for observation of the conditionand locations of theminnows, it will be understood that it can be made flask-shape. roundincross sectionor inother shapes; translucent,nontransparent in various colors, and of ymetal, The

1y enlarged in circumference and. is provided with an internal circumferentially extending shoulder or ledge 5. The top edge of .thecontainer Ahas a bevel; as shown, for seating of .a

-rubber gasket lirtohermetically seal thecon-` tainer and to render it leak-prooffor very vdefinite purposes to be presently-described Opposite sides of the container adjacent thetop thereof, are provided with indented. integral bosses I into which are sprung the inturned ends- 8 of a cover fastening bail 9 which-has a rubber roller I0 rotatably mounted thereon intermediate .the ends thereof. i

A transparent glass inverted cup-shaped cover or closure ll with interior ribs Hb and an 4inclined exteriorl cam-track Ilay having' a vhollow A.I Ic as shown in Figs. l and 2,` is raised integrally 'from theV center vof the cover and the track. serves to tighten the bail 8 againstthe cover; whenthe bail is swung to the position shown in Figs.v l and 2 and its roller 'l0 seats inthe hollow-llc ofthe cam track. Ilfhis also clamps the gaskets between thecoverand containerjto `form an; air

and liquid tight seal, and thereby exclude -air from the container and prevent leakage of water when the container is inverted to trap somewof v l"the minnow's,V las will''bef.presentlyYdescribed' v This 'raised cam track Ila'is provided l.with an apertured portion 12b for the (attachment of'a shoulder' strap, not shown, by vwhich the minn'ow container may be slung from a shermaln-sl'shoulder, or submerged in the streamforfcooling purposes. Y The formation of the cover,l il v.is-such that it has an-external circumferential shoulder l2 conforming to thejcross-section shape of "the container to overlapthe upper-open end thereof,

and a-correspondingly shaped inner flangey t3 3 which ts into said open top to be disposed just above the interior shoulder 5.

In order to facilitate removing minnows from the container without frightening them or dipping the hand into the water in the container 4, a minnow trap or sieve element I4 is arranged in novel relationship to the container and cover and is provided with a series of spaced apart upstanding marginal fingers vI5 terminating in outwardly inclined 'ends adaptedk `to removably` engage 'over the shoulder 5 to support the sieve adjacent the upper end of the container where it is readily 'vious that the containermay be made of any accessible for picking out minnows trapped uponfrom the container for this purpose. 'I'heange tainer is inverted. The sieve is of scoop ordipper; I

shape and while conforming to the cross-sectional shapelof fthe container to Lfli'fsnugly against the linner ci-rcumferenceor periphery ofthe. container, 'is smaller than -such cross-'section solthat one side -of the sieve -is spaced a A'distance from one wall of Ythecontainer"to "form' anentriance Is 'to a trapping chamber Il, part of which 'is'formed Vloysaid-c'over I`I. Thissieve is Anormally-z'irrange'd in the downwardly inclined -position shown,- so that those trappedm'innows not to be usedf-presently, may be brushed backinto the water-below or will flip back by themselves. To derivefth'is inclined position, the securing ngersflvare longer' las they approach the-lipA or mout-hedge A4of thesiev'e. This Vsieve may 'well' be madegof a plastic, glass, rubber, Vmetal or the -like and 'may 'be finished in a dark color, such as -'-darkf-gr'ey, green, brown, or black, to induce minnows to swim Adown 1under the dark colored -sieve when 4the 'container -is inverted -to trap them, asthey naturally swim Adownwardly when disturbed.-

Normally the container stands upright 4with the water level approximately showny at the.

dotted 'line4a, Fig. 2. With minnows 'therein and 'it being desirable Ato trap one or more Vu'po Yhe sieve I4 for bait purposes, 4the container verted so -a's 'to transfer the Vwater levelto lp'r-oximately vthe `dotted lines I8 whenthe 'container is up-side down, so that the niinnows'hate urally dive 'for the bottom and thus .swim through the-mouth I6 'of the trap fand into 'the trapping chamber I1 between the sieve Id andtliacover-'IL'I". When the container is immediately righted again the Lwater level is .again established at ealeaving one or more of the minnows caught or beached 'upon the top of the sieve, whereupon thecover Il .is removed and the trapped minnow removed vthrough the open top of the container. Should 'it `be desired to keep .one or more minnows swimmin'g in the trapping Achamber I'l, the container, as illustrated inFig. .2,is laid upon its right-hand vside after having been rst inverted 'so as to establish the Water leveljat approximately the dotted lline 'I9 which would be below the free and preferably imperforate upward extension or portion I5a formed with an outturned ange I5b whichextends around the back and side edges of sieve I4a to snap and hook into an internal groove 20 arranged on the inner surface of the cover flange I3a. so that the trap sieve is removably secured to the cover I Ic and is thus removed as a scoop unit from the container when the covervis. removed, withpa Yminnow or minnows `upon the sieve trapped as disclosed for the form f invention disclosed Figs. 1 and 2.

v`4 From the foregoing description, it will be ob- Ijdesiredgisize or shape to be carried wherever most 4convenientY tothe fishermen. From past experience it apparent that minnows in average size ventilated containers move and thrash about withapproxiin'v ylz-.of'the containerliilledwith 'atmospheric i air' rwith.A 'free oxygen -and %:1full .fof water. f f i y -Its unique itrapping.and..draining `arran'gement with transparent .container and cover makes `selection-4 of bait without VVundue .disturbance .of ithe minnows a simple and quick operation. Various changes 'in :the size, -fsh'apeand `.relation of parts may bef-resortedto 'without departing zfrom--the spirit of theinvention.

`What Iclaim-asnew is:

1. YA llive minnow :container Vhaving a closure adapted to hermeticallyseal said container, :and a sieve element disposed transversely across said container below but .adjacent Ato said closure to dei-lne a .trappingzchamber between said closure and sieve element with .a passage Ainto said trapping chamber from the container belowsaid container being adapted :to be 'inverted topermit Y minnows-to swim intosaid trapping chamber-and then restored to Lits original y.position to drain the trapped minnows Vupon said sieve velement in `position. to beremoved uponzremoval of said closure; 2. Structure as recited in claim 1, in whichsaid sieve element is Vof a 'dark color toV entice minnows Vil'flfierebeneath when fsaid containerv .is in inverted position, andsaid element is submerged `r`beneath-'said water level,

.-3.iStructure as recited in :claim ,-1, in which said container isprovided .with a shoulder and said sieve, :element fis Vprovided with means detachably` engaging V-sa-id .shoulder to normally nsupportsaid elementgabove .said water level.

4.Structur-e as recited in claim l, `in .which said .closure is of; inverted cup-shape -to vafford .greater space, in said ltrappingchamber, y and said sieve element is `arranged very .close fto .the top .ofsaidzcontainen v 5. Structure as recited inc'laim :1,: inwhich said container is ofrovalshape .in ,cross-.sectionfand saidfsieve .element is smaller 'thanfsai'd crosssecmargin of the sieve to retain the trappediminnowbetween the Isieve and cover I I, inchamber container is simply up-ended to normal position .and the water-tight cover removed toreachthe V'ception of thecoverwhich is I Ia and body vwhich is '4b. Here, the sieve Ma has an .angular resilient .65 Il.Y When desired vto remove this, minnow, the

ftion, ,of ,thecontainervv but -,-isY :in contact with the .rwallsyof SdQntaner jexcept along abortion thereof i .mentns of saugerjshape.and-inclineddownwardly vtetentati waterlvel.- 6. Structure as denedinpla'im .1, andwherein s aidjontainer .is `alsoadapted to .be positioned upon itssideto submerge Vsaidfsie've .element all essen-t Qn@ edge ihsieof; whereby minnowsrl mainrapped .intheir waterin said-,trapping hambflf u 7. structure as delinea.mfjfciaimV 1 n,. which saggia@ ,elemeet graced, :from one si'de wan `denesaid passagegand saidsieve rele'- Y 5 of said container to denne said passage into said Number trapping chamber. 996,731 JAMES E. ORMESHER. 1,048,766 1,269,902

References Cited in the le of this patent 5 1,986,742

UNITED STATESYPATENTS Number Name Date Number 110,148 Leach Dec. 13, 1870 102,334 284,523 Whiteman Sept. 4, 1883 10 223,727 419,520 Hauck Jan. 14, 1890 Name Date Searles July 4, 1911 Tucker lDec. 31, 1912 Butler June 18, 1918 Mosher Jan. 1, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Mar. 21, 1899 Great Britain Oct. 30, 1924 

